There’s no direct flight from Longview, Tex. to Johannesburg. For Jose Torres to get from one to the other required hard work, the negotiation of some unpredictable twists and turns and significant courage.

To overcome the disappointment of what happened once he reached South Africa has required more of the same. But the 24-year-old midfielder, who has an uncanny ability to bring order to chaos, now is well on his way.

As Torres completed pass after pass around and through the Scottish midfield during the U.S. national team’s 5-1 rout on Saturday night, the reasons for coach Jurgen Klinsmann’s affection for the Texan became clear. The game moves a bit slower for Torres, whose vision and control likely are unique among the current American player pool.

“He’s definitely got a skill set that not too many have,” U.S. teammate Herculez Gomez told Sporting News.

“He’s got an extremely good touch. Tactically he sees the game a little differently. He can speed up the tempo and he knows when to slow it down. It’s not so much that he’s a field general. He’s a silent general. It’s a sense of confidence around him at such a young age that you rarely find.”

Think dictating the pace of an international match requires confidence? How about packing your belongings and dreams into a suitcase and leaving home at age 16?

When Torres, then a junior at Longview High School, was offered the opportunity to live and train at the academy run by Mexican Primera División power Pachuca, he weighed the risks of leaving home against the promise of a pro soccer career, took the leap and got on a bus.

“I went down for a week and I didn’t like it. It was totally different from what I was used to back in the States. I stayed for a week and gave it a shot, but I just didn’t like leaving home, you know? I went back to Texas,” Torres told Sporting News.

Two weeks later, Pachuca tracked him down.

“They called and asked why I left. I told them the truth. I didn’t like it. So they told me that I had qualities and that I could get very far in the game. So I gave it another try. Little by little, in about two years, I was training with the first team.”

By the fall of 2008, nearly five years after first leaving home, Torres was a full-time starter. That October, he made his debut with the U.S. national team (after rejecting the opportunity to play for the Under-23 team at the Beijing Olympics that summer). Two months later, he played for Pachuca at the FIFA Club World Cup.

While learning to adapt to life in central Mexico took some time, figuring out the soccer came relatively easy. Torres’ father, a Mexican immigrant who moved to Texas and married Jose’s American mother, immersed his son in the sport. When he was old enough, Torres even played with his father’s team in a local league popular with Mexican expats. Over the weekend, they’d watch Primera matches on TV.

“I already knew what I was getting into and knowing how the flow of the game was,” he said. “I just try to do what I know how to do. When I’m on the field, I try to create. I try to not miss passes. When the pace is at a high intensity, I try to bring the game down, try to let my teammates know that we need to keep the ball a little bit more. I try to bring a pause to the game.”

Add a touch of genuine Latin flair, like the slick second-half heel pass that set Landon Donovan free for a shot against Scotland on Saturday, and you have a player who’s a real asset at the international level.

Former U.S. coach Bob Bradley saw that potential and brought Torres to the 2010 World Cup, despite the fact that he’d played just 10 games for the U.S. In the second game of the group stage, vs. Slovenia at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, Torres was given the start.

It didn’t go well.

The Slovenes manhandled the U.S. for the first 45 minutes, overwhelmed the American midfield and built a 2-0 lead by halftime. Torres had difficulty finding his rhythm. At times, he looked like a cyclist on a freeway. Except for a free kick that forced a strong save from goalkeeper Samir Handanovič, Torres contributed little. Bradley replaced him for the second half, the U.S. stormed back and earned a 2-2 draw and the Texan’s improbable World Cup journey was over.

Torres didn’t play for Bradley again.

“I wanted to play. I was trying to do the best I can. Obviously you have your first World Cup and you have a lot of nerves before the game. The nerves got to me a little bit,” he said. “I have tried to remember the good things I did and tried to learn from my mistakes in that game.”

Last summer, Klinsmann took over and offered Torres another chance. The German World Cup winner said he wants to play proactive, possession soccer, and in Torres he saw one of the few American players who had the technique and temperament to manage it. But just as he was starting to get comfortable with the new national team set-up in the fall, Torres broke his foot and was knocked out of action for several months.

Saturday’s game in Jacksonville marked his real return, and it was triumphant. Playing on the left flank but given license to roam inside, Torres helped shape the course of the contest with intelligent decisions and pinpoint passing. He combined well with left back Fabian Johnson and put Donovan, Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones in position to unhinge the Scotland defense. It wasn’t flashy, but like a great left tackle in football or a checking forward in hockey, Torres laid the foundation for victory.

“I think I showed that I like to be on the ball as much as possible and that I can involve my teammates in the game,” he said afterward.

Said Gomez, who spent the 2010-11 season with Torres at Pachuca, “He’s going to find a way to get the ball, find a way to connect passes, find a way to open up space. Jose’s biggest strength is when you don’t talk about him. He does the little things that people don’t really see.”

Klinsmann certainly has noticed, and that has given Torres the chance to rekindle his European and World Cup dreams. He has one year left on his contract with Pachuca. Torres became a man in Mexico. He has the career he wanted and an 18-month-old daughter. But he admitted, “sometimes you have other goals. You want to make it to Europe or play on a big team.”

Gomez said he thinks that Torres is past ready. Klinsmann clearly thinks Torres is capable as well. He’ll likely feature against Brazil in Wednesday night’s friendly outside Washington, DC and play a significant role in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

Then, perhaps, he’ll get his second shot on the sport’s biggest stage.

“I’m hungry. I want to get another World Cup in me,” Torres said. “I want to demonstrate to the world that I’m a great player and hopefully in 2014 I can. I want to play the games that are there and try to make it as far as we can.”